1.Lake Elementary and Galena Park Middle School Case Study By Ellen White Educ 6105

2. 1038 students 97.9% White No ELL 26% Free & Reduced Lunch School History Known for Good Education Old South Traditions Currently 2nd fastest growing area in state District History Lake Elementary Principal 2 Asst Prin. 2 Guidance Counselors 74 Teachers 9 Paras Structure Focus on students first Staff hesitant to move quickly Looked outward to solve problems Reacted to issues as needed Took professional development in hopes it would filter down to stds Teachers feared things would not improve-just made do Parents worked OT and tried on own to help child Parents feared school system Culture 3. 1007 students 86.6% Hispanic 7.7% African Am. 5.7% White 11.1% ELL 75.1% Free & Reduced Lunch School History Mission to become life long learners Closest Comm. To Urban Center Highly Industrialized Area Mainly Petroleum & Steel Industries 1st Generation Immigrants District History Galena Park Middle School GPMS Principal 3 Asst Prin. 3 Guidance Counselor 80 Teachers 10 Instruc- tional Specialists Structure Central Office Controlled Top Down Leadership Knew they needed to Improve Atmosphere of willingness to try anything Felt isolated from others Principal thought GPMS was improving Teachers priority was to relate to students No Big Deal how students did on state tests Working at GPMS was good cause other places were not so good Culture 4. Both needed to change to improve student performance due to a new state mandate Both Schools underwent a change to a Professional Learning Community (PLC) Community of Instructional Practice Both Schools moved away from principal as sole source of information and teachers performing in isolation Both Schools moved to a vertical and horizontal structural alignment and put a strong team concept in place- leadership, grade level, subject area, and interdisciplinary teams Changes in both schools were implemented through the Federal SEDL Project (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory) and were funded by Federal Grants 5. Lake Principal had an awakening All are so needy we dont realize everyone is in the same boat GPMS Principal joined other schools in district to implement PLCs Leadership Realized that Anything goes wrong blame others and try to straighten it out 6. Lake New Vision We Believe keep learning no matter what the challenge GPMS New Vision strength in numbers- Teachers touch lives, one day, one lesson at a time Both Principals decided that Re-culturing was needed and established a Sense of Urgency with the Staff 7. Lake Started with a few close associates on board with the new vision Vision was reinforced at every meeting got the word out to the parents Both Principals Communicated Vision Effectively and Often GPMS Joined with other schools Principal was enthusiastic and communicated it to everyone Held meetings among teachers, staff, & admin. with other schools involved to talk about the new vision 8. Lake Known for high quality education so why did they have to change? Teachers did not trust admin. Thought they were abdicating responsibility Feared extra work, loss of creative freedom in classroom, and lack of resources & professional development Both Principals Encountered a Wall Resistance GPMS Another new fad to try again District not supportative wanted to keep their top down policies 9. Providing needed resources (Ford)--Had the community volunteer as subs so teachers could go to training Principal communicated extensively (Schermerhorn)--- sent out weekly newsletters to the community, staff, & parents citing progress made no matter how small it was Rebuild point of view (Michelman)--- Principal showed teachers she was willing to work & supplied resources for the teachers Engaged resisters early on and converted some to supporters (Gandz)--- Principal accepted suggestions from staff & treated them as professionals. When it came to the students she was very innovative making suggestions work Lake Elementary was able to Overcome Resistance By 10. Countered Lack of Understanding through Communication (Schermerhorn)---Principal worked on gaining the trust of the community, showing that the school & the community share the same values but we are alike in work ethics, values, purpose, and philosophy Self-Interest through Communication (Schermerhorn) Principal started Critical Friends monthly group meetings between parents, teachers, & staff to share info in a non- threatening relaxed atmosphere Empowered staff through accountability (Beach)--- Principal held everyone accountable and worked as partners to get where they needed to go Lake Elementary was able to Overcome Resistance By 11. Developed Strong Relationships (Ford)--- Principal worked on positive relationship with district to earn their trust Understand Resisters View & address concerns (Anderson) Principal found with the group of schools to get district onboard with the needed change Developed Strong Relationships (Ford)- Principal built relationships with teachers, staff, & community Provided Resources (Ford) (Beach) Principal provided for teachers by securing Federal Grant $ Time ( Beach)- Time was allowed for all to adjust Get People on-board (Beach)- Principal showed district teacher were on-board with the idea Overcame Resistance By 12. Both Schools sustained changes through frequent Communications, such as celebrating even the smallest successescertificates awarded, banner to hang in classroom, etc. Both Schools proclaim the success of the change and how well it is working. They are often heard saying how well things are now, better than before. Everyone wants to work at GPMS now because it is a great place. Both Schools reinforce vision through Periodic Team Meetings reflecting upon successes & listening to perspectives of others to learn among themselves 13. Lake Elementary- used a form of Diffusion Practices with Peer Coaching to help keep change moving forward Galena Park Middle School- Maintained Consistency when the principal left for the district position the Assistant Principal who has been a part of the change became Principal and status quo was maintained Galena Park Middle School- Principal moved to district & supports local schools to change to PLCs AND the Vision developed into deep individual & school wide cultural beliefTests are important, but life success is the real goal 14. Both Schools used researched effective best practices to restructure the culture to unfreeze the school then moved the schools through further implementation of researched effective strategies and are now in the process of refreezing and institutionalizing the changes GPMS is much further along in the sustaining process than Lake Elementary GPMS models an excellent vertical & horizontal alignment and teaming concept GPMS has effectively gained the districts support from top down clearly enabling GPMS & other schools to implement the PLC Lake Elementary is struggling to sustain the change. I would suggest putting in place a reward & recognition program to help keep the change moving forward 15. Both Schools were extremely effective in implementing the change process to PLCs Both leaders were strong leaders; dedicated to the change, enthusiastic about the change, patient with the process, willing to show they cared about the change, and implemented researched best practices to be successful Both Schools are beginning the sustaining process Lake Elementary Faces challenges- they are now being reconfigured from a PK-8 to another combo. Teams & Relationships built will be effected due to this reconfiguration Will Lake still be able to sustain PLCs in light of the reconfiguring of the school? Galena Park Middle Has an upper had due to their principal & greatest supporter is now in district & can give support to GPMS The questions looms what will happen as the leadership changes at the district level? Will the vision & values change? Or will they be imbedded into the culture so deep they will stay? 16. Beach, L. R. (2006). Leadership and the Art of Change: A Practical Guide to Organizational Transformation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Ford, J. D., Ford, L. W., & D'Amelio, A. (2008). Resistance to change: the rest of the story. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 362-377. Anderson, D. L. (2010). Sustaining Change, Evaluating, and Ending an Engagement. In Organizational Development: The Process of Leading Organizational Change (pp. 304-309). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Gandz, J. (2008). On leadership: Cherish the resistors. Ivey Business Journal, 72(4), 1-3. Hallahan, K. (2004). Diffusion of innovations theory. Encyclopedia of Public Relations, . Retrieved October 18, 2010, from http://www.sageereference.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/publicrelations Rogers, P., & Meehan, P. (2008). Building a winning culture. Business Strategy Series, 8(4), 254-261. Schermerhorn, J. R., Hunt, J. G., Osborn, R. N. (2008) Organizational behavior 17. Hunt, J. G., & Osborn, R. N. (2008). Introducing Organizational Behavior. In Organizational behavior (10th ed., p. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Hipp, K. K., Huffman, J. B., Pankake, A. M., & Olivier, D. F. (2008). Sustaining Professional Learning Communities: Case Studies. Jorunal of Educational Change, 9(2), 173-195. Kotter, J. P. (2006). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail . In Gallos, J. V., (Ed.), Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader (Ch. 10) pp. 239-251). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Michelman, P. (2007). Overcoming resistance to change. Harvard Management Update, 12(7), 3-4. Unknown (2010). Http://www.galenaparkisd.com/campuspages/gpms/index.htm. Retrieved October 23, 2010, from http://www.galenaparkisd.com/campuspages/gpms/index.htm